ALBUM REVIEW: Fever Dream – Alunah
Birmingham (a.k.a SABBATH City), in the industrial heart of the West Midlands, has a lot to answer for when it comes to the history of rock and metal. The country’s second biggest city is a seething and visceral cauldron of music that gave rise to BLACK SABBATH, JUDAS PRIEST, half of LED ZEPPELIN, NAPALM DEATH and a plethora of other significant bands and artists, and joining this illustrious list is ALUNAH. Playing vintage psychedelic hard rock that comes from the soul, the Brummie quartet return with their sixth studio album Fever Dream. Forged from a period of extensive soul searching and jamming, ALUNAH haven’t been afraid to switch up the vibe and offer up something soaked in 1970s nostalgia with a contemporary twist.
With that last thought in mind, one of the first things that you’ll notice about Fever Dream is that ALUNAH have moved away slightly from the fuzz-drenched, doom-leaning sound of their previous albums. Even its 2022 predecessor Strange Machine feels like a world away from the vintage 1970s rock, psychedelic and prog sounds of Fever Dream. Ultimately the album gets to the core of what makes the band tick, and that’s being in a room together making music that they want to hear. It feels like the two years between Strange Machine and Fever Dream have been spent digging deep into their psyche and finding a new way to express themselves, which in turn has given them a new lease on life.
First and foremost, the album is majestic, elegant and in certain moments theatrical; quite simply it is unlike anything ALUNAH have done before – including going full 1970s prog by incorporating the uplifting and spritely melodies of Siân Greenaway’s (vocals) flute in a couple of songs. The rest of the band’s playing is a lot more technical on this album; Matt Noble’s (guitar) solos cut through with precision but have the emotive bluesy feel that people love and the rhythm section of Dan Burchmore (bass) and Jake Mason (drums) has more of a driving presence and moves the songs forward with a significant bite that wasn’t as strong on Strange Machine.
Fever Dream is quite a surprising album in many ways, not just because of the aforementioned distancing from the doom elements of their sound. There’s a fantastical element to it, especially in the album’s title track. At several points throughout the album you feel like you’re traversing the Otherworld, or floating through the cosmos on a celestial body. Alongside this, it sounds like the growing pains between leaving who you once where and who you are becoming. You see elements of where Fever Dream’s sound comes from on songs such as Psychedelic Expressway and Dead Woman Walking, so it feels like ALUNAH are coming into a new era, and if it’s imbued with all the 1970s nostalgia and power of modern rock, it’s an exciting development for the Brummie quartet.
At its core Fever Dream is a hard rock record, however it is tinged with elements of prog, glam, psychedelia, blues rock and 1970s proto-metal to create this hazy, trippy, fever dream (pun intended) of an album that transports you into this strange liminal place in your consciousness that is strangely yet comfortingly relaxing.
The album opens up with Never Too Late, a rock ‘n’ roll banger with attitude that channels the bouncy riffing of the classic 1970s rock bands, and straight away you know the vibe is different on this album. This is followed by Trickster Of Time which is a groove-laden track that moves between all out hard rock and cosmic psychedelia, with a vocal masterclass from Greenaway. Fever Dream continues down the psychedelic path, slowing the tempo and incorporating some wonderful layered vocal harmonies. Hazy Jane gets straight back to business with some hard, glam rock tinged riffs that are full of energy, sass and swagger.
Sacred Groves harkens back to their earlier album’s subject matter, bringing a dark and eerie psychedelia to the album, with plucked chords gradually building up to a thunderous and doomy riff, Greenaway’s vocals ethereally drifting over the top. Celestial is almost an interlude track and this is where the flute parts really start to shine, transporting you to a mystical place and taking it in turns to solo with the guitar. Far From Reality is a grooving and grungy anthem featuring guest vocals from Francis Tobolsky (WUCAN). The album closes with I’ve Paid The Price, a Bohemian Rhapsody-esque rock opera ballad with pounding rock drums, wonderful bass grooves, swaggering rock riffs and quieter piano moments whilst Greenaway channels her theatrical side with an operatic performance.
ALUNAH are entering a new phase with this album, with a strong sense of conviction in who they are becoming, and the result is Fever Dream – a fascinating, surprising and magical album that every rock fan should listen to.
Rating: 9/10
Fever Dream is set for release on September 20th via Heavy Psych Sounds.
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